Top Tabs

Friday, October 16, 2009

Last week Amazon again dropped the price of the Kindle 2, this time to $259. They also announced an “international” Kindle just like the Kindle 2 for $279. I’ve commandeered my wife’s Kindle 2 for the past several weeks (I take a bit longer to get through books than she does) and I have to say I really, really like it. Matter of fact I’m 100% sure I’ll be purchasing an eBook Reader for myself in the next six months whether it’s another Kindle or possibly a competitor like the Plastic Logic device or something else. I just love the concept of eBooks and having used one in the past month so much I want one for my own now.

What’s your eBook Reader Tipping Point?

So I was wondering what others are thinking? eBook readers are supposedly going to be very popular gift items this coming holiday season so are you considering one? What’s your magic price and/or feature that would push you over the edge?

Added Automatic Prioritization to the scheduler which uses watching behavior to automatically increase priority of shows that are watched close to their recording timeslot over shows that are delayed for longer periods of time.

The LG BD390 is one of the better Blu-Ray players available today and comes with Netflix, Now Vudu and many other online video streaming options. It connects wirelessly and has the right specs too. A few months ago I purchased it’s lesser, little brother the LG BD370 but the BD390 is now on sale at Amazon in a deal that makes me wish I had waited.

If you’re in the market for a Blu-Ray player this one at Amazon (affiliate) is certainly one to check out - especially at this price:

The SageTV team has now released two new beta firmware updates for their popular HD Theater (HD200) Player/Extender. Nothing Earth-shattering, but a few nice improvements/updates were included. The most recent version adds support for NFS drives for imports and BD ISO support for the standalone player mode. The beta firmware from earlier this month added some very cool music visualizations – check them out if you haven’t already:

Fixed issue where if music visualizations were enabled, then the song info position was never updated when the screen saver was active.

If "nfs://" style path is manually entered in the network file browser, display option to add it as an import path.

Removed Random Videos from the Google Video menu, since the feed is obsolete.

Beta Firmware Version "20091007 1"

Core changes:

Added support for music visualizations.

Added support for WPA hex keys

Media Player (Standalone) UI changes:

Added short description for built-in AR modes in AR selection dialog during playback.

Fixed issue finding Video ID for YouTube video.

Added option for HD200 to use music visualizations and made visualizations the default setting for music playback.

Added option to manually enter network path in network file browser.

Added network folder access check after using the Info command for folder options; ask for password if authorization needed.

When showing network paths in the UI, convert to UNC so that passwords don't get displayed.

Added cache for usernames & passwords entered for network paths so that they don't need to be repeatedly entered. The cache is cleared when the UI is restarted.

If file browser folder path is invalid or empty, add "Go Back" button on center of screen. If browsing network, also add button to manually enter a network path.

The "Automatic Library Rescan Frequency" option is now entered in minutes instead of hours.

Modified the Search menu to add more delay after user input before the search will start. Also, set the default timeout after each number input for NTE to be 1.5 seconds rather than 1 second.

Added support for multiple pages of results for YouTube video lists.

Remember, these updates are still in beta so to get the updates you need to follow this procedure: While using the HD200 as a Media Player (standalone mode), use the remote's number pad to enter the code 2382 ('beta') on the HD200's Settings -> System Update menu in order to tell it to look for the beta version

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

If you’ve ever had the urge to chat with others via the web while watching TV, you’ll be interested in this one. A new social content-sharing startup company, Cliqset brings a pretty unique app to the Boxee HTPC world. Share your Boxee, media-consuming information using the new Cliqset app and even share and discuss the media you’re watching on Boxee with others in the Cliqset world.

Cliqset, who also launched a desktop client for its sharing site (think of it as a cross between twitter and friendfeed) which brings together data from 60 or so social networks so you keep up with your friends over the web.

To use it you need to be a boxee user, add the Cliqset app into Boxee and you’re ready to go. Once you have the app working in boxee you can have an over-the-web chat with online friends centered around a specific TV show or movie for instance. The app uses Boxee’s “now playing” information to allow users to comment or chat about the video being watched. Very cool!

If you haven’t already, be sure and check out the link above and download the TV Premiere Listings recently updated. Note that I continue to do these weekly, weekend “What to Watch” posts that will keep you updated with any changes to the schedule from that premiere guide, add some additional information about the shows for the week including whether they are in HD or not. I also throw in any TV movies and specials for the week for good measure.

Below you’ll find all this weeks premieres through next Sunday.

Nip/Tuck returns Wednesday

NOTE: All Times are Listed for EST

Sunday, October 11, 2009

America’s Funniest Home Videos (7pm on ABC) – Season 20

Hoarders: Buried Alive (8pm on TLC– Available in HD) – A one-hour special

Endless Yard Sale 2009 (8pm on HGTV) – One-hour special

I Know What I Saw (9pm on History– Available in HD) – A two-hour special. So you know, they saw UFOs…

My Monkey Baby (9pm on TLC– Available in HD) – A one-hour special

The Next Iron Chef (9pm on Food Network– Available in HD) – Season 2

Three Rivers (9pm on CBS – Available in HD) - A new drama starring Alex O’ Loughlin

Dinosaurs Decoded (9pm on National Geographic– Available in HD) – one-hour special

Discovering Ardi (9pm on Discovery– Available in HD) – two-hour special

JFK: 3 Shots That Changed America: Part 1 (9pm on History) – two hour special

Monte Python: Almost the Truth (10pm on Sundance) – Season 1

Nick Swardson: Seriously, Who Farted? (10pm on Comedy) – one hour special

The Girls Next Door (10:30pm on E!) – Season Premiere

Leave It To Lamas (11:30pm on E!) – Season Premiere

Monday, October 12, 2009

Little People, Big World (8pm on TLC– Available in HD) – Season 6 premiere

100 Mile Challenge (9pm on Planet Green – Available in HD) – New series

Million Dollar Listing (9pm on Bravo) – Season 3 premiere. Seems kind of out of place in today's real estate market…

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Chopped (10pm on Food– Available in HD) – Season 3 premiere

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Nip/Tuck (10pm on FX– Available in HD) – Season 6

Mary Queen of Shops (7pm on BBCA) – Season premiere

Nature, Inc. (10pm on Planet Green– Available in HD) – New series

Thursday, October 15 2009

30 Rock (9:30pm on NBC– Available in HD) – Season 4

Friday, October 16, 2009

Lobstermen (8pm on Discovery– Available in HD) – New series

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Head Games (9pm on Science– Available in HD) New series

Sunday, October 18, 2009

No New Premieres

Season Finales this Week:

10/11/2009 9pm on Lifetime “Drop Dead Diva” season finale

10/11/2009 10pm on Lifetime “Army Wives” season 3 finale

10/12/2009 on ION “Durham County” season 1 finale

10/12/2009 10pm on Bravo “The Rachel Zoe Project” season 2 finale

10/12/2009 on TLC “Ultimate Cake Off” season 1 finale

10/13/2009 8pm on Fox “Hell’s Kitchen” season 6 finale – two hour special